Open and Save Word document in .NET MAUI

4 Feb 20255 minutes to read

Syncfusion^® DocIO is a .NET MAUI Word library used to create, read, and edit Word documents programmatically without Microsoft Word or interop dependencies. Using this library, you can open and save a Word document in .NET MAUI.

Prerequisites:
To create .NET Multi-platform App UI (.NET MAUI) apps, you need the latest versions of Visual Studio 2022 and .NET 6. For more details, refer here.

Steps to open and save Word document programmatically in .NET MAUI

Step 1: Create a new C# .NET MAUI app. Select .NET MAUI App (Preview) from the template and click the Next button.

Step 2: Enter the project name and click Create.

Step 3: Install the Syncfusion.DocIO.NET NuGet package as a reference to your project from NuGet.org.

NOTE

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion^® assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you also have to add “Syncfusion.Licensing” assembly reference and include a license key in your projects. Please refer to this link to know about registering a Syncfusion^® license key in your application to use our components.

Step 4: Add a new button to the MainPage.xaml as shown below.

XAML

<ContentPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
            xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
            x:Class="Open_and_save_Word_document.MainPage"
            BackgroundColor="{DynamicResource SecondaryColor}">
    <ScrollView>
        <Grid RowSpacing="25" RowDefinitions="Auto,Auto,Auto,Auto,*"
            Padding="{OnPlatform iOS='30,60,30,30', Default='30'}">
            <Button 
                Text="Open and Save Document"
                FontAttributes="Bold"
                Grid.Row="0"
                SemanticProperties.Hint="Open and Save Word document you click"
                Clicked="OpenAndSaveDocument"
                HorizontalOptions="Center" />
        </Grid>
    </ScrollView>
</ContentPage>

Step 5: Include the following namespaces in the MainPage.xaml.cs file.

C#

using Syncfusion.DocIO;
using Syncfusion.DocIO.DLS;

Step 6: Add a new action method OpenAndSaveDocument in MainPage.xaml.cs and include the below code snippet to open an existing Word document in .NET MAUI.

C#

//Load an existing Word document.
Assembly assembly = typeof(App).GetTypeInfo().Assembly;
using (WordDocument document = new WordDocument(assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("Open_and_save_Word_document.Resources.Input.docx")))
{

}

Step 7: Add below code example to add a paragraph in the Word document.

C#

//Access the section in a Word document.
IWSection section = document.Sections[0];
//Add a new paragraph to the section.
IWParagraph paragraph = section.AddParagraph();
paragraph.ParagraphFormat.FirstLineIndent = 36;
paragraph.BreakCharacterFormat.FontSize = 12f;
IWTextRange text = paragraph.AppendText("In 2000, Adventure Works Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, Importadores Neptuno, located in Mexico. Importadores Neptuno manufactures several critical subcomponents for the Adventure Works Cycles product line. These subcomponents are shipped to the Bothell location for final product assembly. In 2001, Importadores Neptuno, became the sole manufacturer and distributor of the touring bicycle product group.");
text.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 12f;

Step 8: Add below code example to save the Word document in .NET MAUI.

C#

//Saves the Word document to the memory stream.
using MemoryStream ms = new();
document.Save(ms, FormatType.Docx);
ms.Position = 0;
//Save the memory stream as a file.
SaveService saveService = new();
saveService.SaveAndView("Sample.docx", "application/msword", ms);

Helper files for .NET MAUI

Refer the helper files to be added into the mentioned project. These helper files allow you to save the stream as a physical file and open the file for viewing.

Folder Name	File Name	Summary
.NET MAUI Project	SaveService.cs	Represent the base class for save operation.
Windows	SaveWindows.cs	Save implementation for Windows.
Android	SaveAndroid.cs	Save implementation for Android device.
Mac Catalyst	SaveMac.cs	Save implementation for Mac Catalyst device.
iOS	SaveIOS.cs	Save implementation for iOS device
	PreviewControllerDS.cs QLPreviewItemFileSystem.cs	Helper classes for viewing the Word document in iOS device

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

By executing the program, you will get the Word document as follows.

Click here to explore the rich set of Syncfusion^® Word library (DocIO) features.